


Universe (The Moment the Second Splits)

by KittyCatriona (War_Worn_Lipstick)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: AU, Experimental Style, It's Lame, M/M, Pining, Unrequited Love, let's call it an experiment shall we, this is an alternate universe story about alternate universes sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 04:31:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7153607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/War_Worn_Lipstick/pseuds/KittyCatriona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Here we have a story about how sometimes it seems, in a split second, like the world is ending.</p><p>OR the one where Dan has a crush on Phil, Phil brings home a girl, and things work out--and then things don't work out, and then things maybe work out again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Universe (The Moment the Second Splits)

**Author's Note:**

> So I just started writing (to try and plow through my writer's block) and this happened. ....... ....... ........ .... . ....Let's call it an Experiment, shall we? 
> 
> (note: this is entirely unedited)

If Dan could tell how his best friend felt, he’d act. 

That is, if Dan could tell if his best friend loved him, he’d act. 

Sorry, that is, if Dan could tell if his best friend didn’t love him, he’d act. 

Yeah, okay, there you go. See, Dan can’t get up the guts to make a move himself, but if he knows for certain that Phil, the aforementioned best friend, doesn’t like him romantically, then Dan can leave without guilt. No, guilt isn’t the right word. Without “what ifs.” There you go. 

Dan’s life up to this point is just filled with What Ifs and he’s sick of it, but he’s also not ready to do anything about it. He’s lazy, sleepy, passive. He prefers to be talked to rather than talk, be texted rather than text, be propositioned rather than proposition. So What If he’s lost a few friends along the way because he didn’t “put forth an effort.” No big deal. There are more friends out there. 

Phil’s been his friend for a long while now, years really, but it’s not enough for Dan. He’s grown tired of pining, of sitting around and wanting, and figures it’s time to move forward or move out. The dilemma, though. How to know? 

At this point Dan wishes he could say “he devised a plan,” but he didn’t, because, you know, lazy, sleepy, passive. Lucky for him, though, the universe decides to work in his favor. 

Phil brings a girl home and her name is Sarah and she’s pretty and blonde and small and basically everything Dan isn’t. Dan decides that’s a sign and he starts to pack his bags, wondering if he should tell Phil what’s up or if he should just leave. 

* * *

He’s halfway through folding his t-shirts into a suitcase when there’s a scream. Dan blinks and looks up, stares straight toward Phil’s room, as though he can see through the wall. 

“Are you kidding me?” Sarah is yelling, and Phil is apologizing. 

“I didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean it!” he’s saying. 

Sarah goes on. “Eight months, Philip,” she says. “We’ve been together for eight months.” 

Dan blinks again because he didn’t know that. He thought Sarah was a fling. 

“And _this_ is what you’ve been thinking about?”

“No!” Phil cries. There’s a door slamming and then footsteps in the hall. The door is thrown open again and Dan keeps listening as Phil follows Sarah out of his bedroom. “It isn’t like that!”

“That’s why you never let me meet him, isn’t it?”

Dan frowns. 

“Sarah, no. Please listen to me.”

“I listened, Philip, I listened and I understand now.”

“Please,” Phil says one last time. 

As Dan exits his room, curiosity peeked, Sarah is going down the stairs. “I’m leaving,” she says, and then she’s gone. 

Phil is a heap on the ground at the top of the steps when Dan finally reaches him. 

“Phil,” Dan says, kneeling beside him. “What happened? Is everything okay?”

“Obviously not,” Phil sniffs. Dan notes the tears streaming down Phil’s face with a twinge of pleasure he knows he should feel ashamed of. “She—I—”

Dan tucks his arm around Phil’s shoulders and drags him close. “No stress, man,” he says as he quietly smells Phil’s hair. He wishes he could pinpoint the smell, like, is it coffee? Cinnamon? Peppermint? A forest after rain? No, none of those things, really, that he can tell. It just smells like Phil. “She seemed like a bitch.” 

Phil pushes Dan away, furiously wiping at his tears, and Dan regrets his words. “She wasn’t, though,” he says. “She was perfect. God, she was so perfect.”

“Then what happened?” 

With a deep breath, Phil slumps sideways against the wall, away from Dan. It takes him a while to find the nerve to speak, or maybe just to find the right words. “She knew there was something up,” he says. Dan listens close. “It pissed her off that I never introduced her to you, or even told you she existed.” 

Dan swallows, now. 

“And like, yeah. You were always… yeah.” 

Dan waits for Phil to elaborate, but he doesn’t, so he frowns. “Always what?”

Phil sighs and hides his face. His voice comes out muffled. “Always an option.” 

“An option for what?” 

“I always thought…”

After another long pause Dan rolls his eyes. “Phil, please just spit it out.” 

“You were a backup plan, okay?” Phil snaps, eyes flaring as he looks up at Dan. “Not even that, though. I always low-key wanted you but I knew you didn’t want that, so I told myself you were a backup plan. Like, if things didn’t work out, I could always give you a try. And I know that wasn’t fair to you because I didn’t give you a say in it at all, but it’s just what I always thought okay? And then today,” he barely stops for breath, and Dan just stares at him, completely dumbfounded, “today Sarah finally asked me why I won’t tell her I love her, because she told me a couple months ago and I couldn’t say it back, okay? So she asked me and I looked at her and I tried to say it, I did, but all I could get out was that I—” he freezes, or, more likely, chokes. “—that I love you.” 

Dan thinks to himself that this is the thing, the thing he’s been waiting for, and now he knows how Phil feels so he can act. Everything is in place and it’s time. 

So he leans forward and he kisses Phil hard, all chapped lips and salty tears, and Phil’s skin is a few degrees cooler than his and he likes the way that feels. He puts his thumb and forefinger against Phil’s chin and just holds him there, cool and salty and chapped and _Phil._

And then he’s sprawled on his back, his head cracking against the floor. He sits up slowly, confused, and rubs the back of his head. Phil is crying again and he’s covering his mouth with his hand. 

“Why would you do that?” he asks. 

“Because you love me?” Dan asks. 

“I just broke up with my girlfriend,” Phil cries. 

“Oh, yeah,” Dan frowns. 

They sit together for another five minutes or so, the silence punctuated by Phil’s occasional gasps and sobs, before Dan gets up to make a pot of tea.

* * *

_Phil retreats to the couch, then, and in a world the second splits._

Dan takes a deep breath and brings Phil a cup of the tea, and Phil thanks him with a slight smile. It’s uncomfortable but they sit together and sip, quietly. Phil suggests they watch something, so they turn on the television. 

They fall asleep on the couch, a few mere inches separating them.

The next morning Dan wakes up before Phil and makes them both breakfast. He cleans up afterwards. He waits for Phil to make a move, and a few days later, Phil does just that.

They kiss, sweet this time. 

Lips are soft, cheeks are dry, skin is warm. Phil caresses Dan’s neck and Dan smiles into the kiss. It’s nice. 

They do it often, now.

* * *

They sit together for another five minutes or so, the silence punctuated by Phil’s occasional gasps and sobs, before Dan gets up to make a pot of tea.

* * *

_Phil retreats to his room, then, and in a split second the world ends._

Dan makes Phil a cup of the tea but doesn’t take it to him. He doesn’t sleep all night. 

Phil doesn’t leave his room until the morning. 

Phil doesn’t know how to bring up the night before, and Dan is lazy, sleepy, passive.

They don’t talk about it. 

Days go by.

Weeks go by. 

* * *

_In a world a second splits._

Phil gets sick of it and presses Dan against the kitchen counter. 

It’s a fit of rage but it’s effective.

They kiss like fire. Lips burn, cheeks flush, skin is hot. 

It doesn’t stop there.

* * *

Weeks go by.

* * *

_In a second the world ends._

Dan sees his half-packed suitcase and spends the night finishing the task. He leaves the next morning, without saying goodbye. 

* * *

_In a world a second splits._

They meet again.

* * *

He leaves the next morning, without saying goodbye.

* * *

_In a second the world ends._

They don't meet again. 

* * *

And that's okay.

* * *

And that's not okay.

* * *

Phil brings a girl home and her name is Sarah and she’s pretty and blonde and small and basically everything Dan isn’t. Dan decides that’s a sign and he starts to pack his bags, wondering if he should tell Phil what’s up or if he should just leave. 

* * *

He just leaves.

**Author's Note:**

> Yo, so, let me know what you thought.
> 
> Also! I'm available as a beta, or if you just want a one-time deal, I'll write a (very lengthy, and, might I add, FREE) critique of any piece of phan fiction you've written! It's sort of my passion (I'm a written arts student at college and I've had lots of practice workshopping), and I promise I'm not mean--I just want to help people be the best writer they can be, and sometimes an outside, critical perspective is how that can be achieved. If you're interested, message me at my tumblr, [kittycatriona](kittycatriona.tumblr.com)! I just wrote one for this girl that was 2000+ words long (on her 2000 word story), so like, I go hard lol.
> 
> Anyways yeah. Cheeky promo. I also make phan art on my blog, so like, click away kids^^^

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Oh, What If?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9890270) by [KittyCatriona (War_Worn_Lipstick)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/War_Worn_Lipstick/pseuds/KittyCatriona)




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